Scientific Method
by KatanithRolm
Summary: What if your final decision in ME3 led to an opening sequence/storyline in ME4? If it was the Destroy option, it might start at Valhalla Station and involve an aged salarian.
1. Chapter 1

**Scientific Method**

**Chapter 1**

An asari sat at the table, staring out at the beauty of the reflected sunlight off of the rings of Saturn and the surface of Titan. Littered across the viewscape was a vast amount of wreckage that had been pulled, towed, and dumped here to Valhalla Station, a fitting resting place – so it was called.

"So many years ago…" she sat pondering. "All of the destruction the Reapers caused so much loss of life." She turned from the window and looked down at her untouched drink.

Elysium on Valhalla Station was known for its soothing and reflective environment. It was not like the other bars and nightclubs, the music here was serene, yet occasionally haunting, as it could open corridors of thought and remembrance – regardless of the race. Turians, Volus, Salarians, Elcor, Humans, Quarians, Batarians, and even Krogan were touched by the music. Asari, Drell, and especially Hanar were known to be able to tune into the music and sometimes find deeper understanding.

It was fitting for this station, Valhalla, being built as a memorial to all that was lost in the war against the Reapers. All of the races came here now seeking solace; understanding; or just to view what was left of the great final battle that took place in the near-orbit of Earth.

After several moments, she turned her head to the window. "So many lost…" her thoughts began to drift along with the help of the music. A faint glistening appeared at the corner of her eyes.

Three salarians entered Elysium, two younger males surrounding a visibly older salarian; all three were dressed in similar light gray clothing indicating that they came from the same clan. They paused briefly when they entered the oldest stopping and looking around at the patrons and workers and then pointed the younglings to the bar. A brief argument could be seen taking place between the three of them, the end result of this being that the youths moved to the bar where they did not order anything but they became very attentive to their elder and all of the other goings on.

A Hanar waiter was making its rounds about the bar looking to see where if could be of assistance.

The aging salarian stood where he was for several moments, eyes closed, appearing to draw on inner strength and reserves. When he opened his eyes they were deadlocked on the table with the asari. He took a deep breath and slowly walked over to the table.

"Please excuse this interruption but I am looking for Justicar Seminda," he said very quickly and barely above a whisper.

Continuing to gaze out the viewport, the asari's mental focus now centered upon this old salarian which stood before her table and as she motioned for him to sit she said, "The justicar you seek died defending Illium."

The salarian reflexively nodded his head, thinking, "That was the proper code response, said in the exact intonation." And then said "Illium rises," as he sat down accepting the invite.

The asari turned her head to face the now seated salarian, her full attention upon him. "This is the contact?" she thought. "He is older than most salarians live to be, time to find out what he seeks."

Before she could ask a question, he said barely above a whisper, "My name is Vardis. I have information which will soon be lost upon my death. I believe that the Shadow Broker may have need of the information some day after I am long gone."

In a casual tone she said, "The Shadow Broker knows what the Shadow Broker needs to know."

The salarian smiled a crooked, wrinkly grin and lowering his voice even further said, "This is true, but what does the Shadow Broker really know about 'The Keepers'?"

Liara T'Soni's eyes buried deep into the salarian. _If Vardis truly has information on the Keepers this could be important information_. _Keepers maintained the Citadel and had done so for eons, and no one had come to understand them. Wait,_ she remembered, _there was a salarian on the Citadel that had done research on them…_

"Such information would have required research."

Vardis nodded again then said, "Yes. I shall elucidate. My brood brother was Chorban who was obessessed with the Keepers. He stole technology from a research company he worked for, modified and adapted it all for the purpose of scanning The Keepers. This information was used by 'The Shepard' to defeat Harbinger and its attack on the Citadel many, many years ago. "

Liara knew all of this information as she had been personally there but gave nothing away, "The Broker already knows all this."

"As expected," he quipped back. "There is much more to this story beyond Chorban, which only I know. I will lay odds, similar to which are made by volus when betting on the Galactic Championship of the Krogan Football League, that the broker does not know that Chorban's work continued."

Liara raised an eyebrow and said, "Those are very high stakes. I would have to have more information to relay to the broker before any payment could be made."

A final nod of the salarian head, a brief closing of his eyes then words began to quickly fly from his mouth. "Upon Chorban's death, I received all of his belongings; amongst them was the device he used to research the Keepers. Searching through some of his personal archives, I was able to find fragments of the research results and through several years of work, augumented Chorban's design. With that finished design, I visited the Citadel and in a remote location scanned several Keepers as they passed by. I became surprised when one of the Keepers stopped its normal functions and actually looked and 'saw' me. This lasted for just a moment as I did not have any way to communicate with the Keeper, and it picked up on the task that it had been doing."

"After this meeting, I was inspired to further refine and expand the device into a collection of instruments. I also requested some very restricted technology from the Salarian Intelligence Service. With all of this technology, I studied the Keepers from afar and found some common gathering points. At one of those points on the Citadel, I placed this equipment and let it function. After some time, there was a breakthrough – I found that I had enough information to create a device that could communicate with several of the Keepers, but what may be more important is that I discovered more about them than was widely known and the most significant - information as to the areas of the Citadel that 'house' them."

"I have sifted through the information and found out such things as the actual number of Keepers, where and how they live, eat, and otherwise function."

"Vardis, what use is this to the Broker?"

"I have also learned that scattered over the Citadel, in areas only accessible to the Keepers, are certain pods that provide for all of the Keepers needs. After Harbinger's attack on the Citadel, the number of Keepers was drastically reduced and the intelligence behind them began to direct the creation of new types of pods to protect The Keepers. Thousands of these new pods were created, according to my accounts. They could be considered hibernation pods. Through my research I have been able to determine the frequency at which they operate and are in use - all of this prior to the Reaper attack on the Citadel. After the attack, a significant number of pods came online until all of the pods were in use. And they remain so, although the life signs within the pods are not Keepers."

Liara leaned forward and said, "Not Keepers…"

"Yes. I do not know much more than this, but I have design schematics and other information that needs to be safeguarded. This is what I need the Shadow Broker for, to protect this information. I believe that the Keepers may have gathered personnel from the Citadel – some of whom were badly injured – and placed them in these pods. The final purpose is not known to me, but the Broker could make sure that the information is put to proper use and investigated."

Liara nodded her head, some of what Vardis had just said filled in some holes within Citadel records of "Unaccounted Personnel". It seemed Vardis held a very formidable hand and the Shadow Broker was going to have to pay a very tidy sum. She cleared her throat to address Vardis, but before she could speak he held up his hand.

Sighing and letting go of a weight on his shoulders, he said "Not much time do I have left. The burden must be passed." The hand he raised now moved to an inner, hidden breast pocket. He drew out a chain with a gold medallion containing six crystals scattered about it. The medallion was no bigger than an inch in diameter. He extended it to Liara, who extended her hand and let the medallion and chain fall into it.

"It is all there. It must properly decoded, you must 'follow the line.'" And with that, Vardis slowly moved to stand by the table. He took two steps away, they turned slightly to Liara and uttered barely a whisper, "Only you, Shadow Broker, can protect this and properly use it and solve a riddle lost in eons past."

With that, Vardis turned and walked back to his escorts, who had seeing him coming, and were waiting to escort him away from Elysium.

Liara T'soni, the current Shadow Broker, sat stunned in silence, her hand closing tightly on the medallion. She would have much to – beginning with finding about more about this 'Vardis' and figure out what to do with all of the information. Her sources were going to be heavily reviewed.

ELSEWHERE:

Deep within the planet Baelenshok, a forgotten enemy stirred from its slumber and started to put into motion it's devious plan.


	2. Chapter 2

**Scientific Method - Chapter 2**

Liara T'soni got up from the table - Elysium had lost its grip on her psyche only to be replaced by bold determination. The medallion was still firmly gripped in her hand, its mysteries needing to be unraveled. She slowly turned her hand over, releasing her grip as her palm turned; she looked down once more at the medallion.

_Mysteries to be solved needing both an archeologist and the Shadow Broker. Work that cannot be done here._

In a swift movement, she tucked the medallion into a hidden, undetectable compartment in her clothing. She then turned and began to head towards the entrance of Elysium. Activating her omni-tool, she keyed in a sequence and a robotic voice responded.

"What is the destination?"

"Home base."

"Yes mistress. All will be prepared when you arrive." Liara thought she her a bit of static in the response from Glyph. Her attention is drawn to a strange character entering Elysium.

Standing in the doorway was one of the most outlandish vorcha she had ever seen. It was wearing a black velvet tailcoat with ornate brocade; a dark red, paisley double breasted vest; a white dress shirt with high stand collar; dark blue paisley ascot; black trousers with a dark blue stripe running down the left leg that perfectly matched the ascot and black velvet top hat with a satin band along the rim, holding in a white feather several inches taller than the hat. In its right hand it carried a dark wooded walking stick with an ornate gold head and there were barely imperceptible ticks on the floor as the vorcha walked using the stick. Liara also noted a nearly imperceptible bulge underneath the right side of the tailcoat.

Another tick on the floor from the walking stick sent a shiver up Liara's spine. _Fear?_

The vorcha approached Liara and when it was within five feet of her, it raised its left hand to the rim of the top hat and as it swept off the hat, it bowed to her. It then stood back up, replacing the top hat and spoke to her.

"Salutations!" It said in a very rich voice, something nowhere near how vorcha would normally talk in the more guttural style. Before Liara could say anything it continued,

"Your cause is just,

But watch and ware;

Toss a coin and fates do turn,

But they know no flare."

And with a flick of its wrist an inch and a half sized coin was spinning towards Liara and with a quick spin on its heels it heads to the door and strides out of Elysium.

Liara caught the coin in her right hand and is immediately stunned with shock, the coin is of Promethean origin. Questions flood her mind. She regains her composure and begins to pursue the vorcha.

Upon reaching the doorway of Elysium, she does not see any sign of the vorcha and the corridors are clear of anything close to what she had just seen. There were a few non-asari wandering about, mainly humans still working on various aspects of Valhalla.

She approached the nearest human - a female engineer - looking over some paperwork and asked her if she had seen the vorcha. When Liara provided the description of the vorcha all she got back from the engineer was a look that told her "That is one crazy-ass asari."

The engineer replied to the inquiry with a guarded, "No" and then looked down very intently and began flipping through her paperwork.

Liara got the same looks and results from those she approached nearby. No one had seen a sign of either the vorcha entering or leaving Elysium.

Liara felt a slight vibration from her omni-tool and accessed it.

"Mistress?"

"Yes Glyph?"

"All is prepared for departure. Awaiting your arrival."

_Home base has the resources to better solve this riddle._

"On my way. E.T.A. is 5 minutes. " Liara then began her way back to the space dock.

She arrived precisely five minutes later and as soon as she entered the airlock, the ship began the departure sequence from Valhalla Station.

Liara still had hold of the Promethean coin and carefully began to look at it, turning it over in her hand. Each side of the coin had a similar pattern of straight lines and interconnecting boxes, although one side had a very thin circle that had a half inch radii about it.

_Enough of this there are more pressing matters._

"Glyph, activate 'The Board', route it through Tuchanka."

"Initializing SNet Protocols… Encryption security layer active… activating Tuchanka feed… communication links established and ready for you." Glyph had just finished activating the Shadow Broker's security communication network – SNet – and it now set about its default task of shifting through all recent updates as well as monitoring the network to ensure that the signals themselves were not being infiltrated. Glyph's other jobs on the SNet depended upon what the Broker needed to have done.

"Glyph, begin an active search on the following salarian names: Chorban, Vardis. Cross-reference with Sur'Kesh databases for business connections, known associates, travel history at a tier three level denote any dead ends." Liara was determined to investigate the salarian before making any further steps, but the next step was going to have to be carefully played.

"Glyph, record message for 'Black Friar' originating from 'Citadel922'."

Glyph responded after a few seconds, "Ready to begin."

"Black Friar instructions from the Shadow Broker follow. Information search and investigation of SIS highly restricted technology, potentially prototype in nature with regards to communications. Said technology may have been compromised or disappeared from SIS control. Operational budget 50,000 credits to be used as needed for recruitment. Citadel922 out."

Glyph announced, "Message posted and flagged."

"Glyph, new posting for bounty section open to all members of SNet, text posting only. 'Action: Report of contact/sighting of vorcha meeting the following description.'" Liara began to fully describe the very strange vorcha she had encountered on Valhalla Station. "Sighting reports are to include time and location, when possible. Reward level starts at 100 credits."

"Bounty is posted as 429-CANON," responded Glyph.

"Begin search of current and archival databases for subject described in 429-CANON." And with that, Liara was done with her important business, now for the more trivial of managing SNet.

"Glyph, cut Tuchanka connection. Report on SNet."

Liara listened intently as Glyph began reciting numbers, figures, and intelligence on reports and inquiries being filed by those who dealt with the Shadow Broker. There were reports on raiders, these were collated and either postings were made on the bounty board or certain well-placed agents were given the intelligence to provide to their superiors for 'appropriate action.' Reports on corporations were filed. Reports involving possible blackmail were carefully scrutinized to determine when and where proper leverage could be applied.

When it was all done, she had one last task for Glyph. "Glyph request through proper channels all schematics and known structure plans of Citadel Station. High level detail requirements."

"It will be done."


End file.
